Consistency on offense eluding University of Houston

After halftime, UH's offense has had tendency to disappear

Houston quarterback Kyle Postma (3) made his first start of the season against Temple, providing enough of a spark to power a 20-13 road win.﻿

Photo: Tim Warner, Freelance

On the opening drive of the second half against Temple, the University of Houston put together one of its best drives of the season - nine plays, 85 yards and a touchdown to take a 20-0 lead.

Like far too many times this season, it was the last the offense would be heard from the remainder of the game.

"We always want to be explosive and aggressive offensively," UH coach Major Applewhite said. "Every time you step on the field, you have to score points. It doesn't matter if it's the first, second or third quarter."

The Cougars have done a bulk of their scoring in the first half this season, only for the offense go missing after halftime - a dangerous game of roulette that has to change with a challenging series of games against high-scoring offenses, beginning Saturday against SMU (4-1) at TDECU Stadium.

During the next month, Houston will play four American Athletic Conference teams all ranked in the top 50 nationally in scoring offense - No. 3 SMU (48.2 points), No. 9 South Florida (44.8), No. 36 Memphis (35.5) and No. 41 Tulsa (35).

More Information

SMU at Houston

When/where: 6 p.m. today; TDECU Stadium.

TV/radio: CBS Sports Network; 950 AM.

Records: SMU 4-1, 1-0 AAC; Houston 3-1, 1-0 AAC.

SMU update: The Mustangs are off to their best start since 2011 and one win away from matching their total from last season. ... They are averaging 51.3 points in four wins. ... QB Ben Hicks, a onetime UH commitment, has thrown for 1,275 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. ... WR Courtland Sutton is a projected top-10 pick in next year's NFL Draft. ... DE Justin Lawler had four sacks in last week's win over Connecticut.

Houston update: All-America DT Ed Oliver, who is nursing a MCL sprain in his left knee, will be a game-time decision. If he can't play, sophomore Aymiel Fleming will get his first career start. ... QB Kyle Postma gets his second straight start. ... WR D'Eriq King has a touchdown in the last two games since returning from knee injury. ... The Cougars have won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series.

SMU update: The Mustangs are off to their best start since 2011 and one win away from matching their total from last season. … They are averaging 51.3 points in four wins. … QB Ben Hicks, a onetime UH commitment, has thrown for 1,275 yards with 14 touchdowns and three interceptions. … WR Courtland Sutton is a projected top-10 pick in next year's NFL draft.

Houston update: All-America DT Ed Oliver, who is nursing an MCL sprain in his left knee, will be a game-time decision. If he can't play, sophomore Aymiel Fleming will get his first career start. … QB Kyle Postma gets his second straight start. … WR D'Eriq King has a touchdown in the last two games since returning from knee injury. … The Cougars have won nine of the last 11 meetings in the series.

Read More

Second-half woes

As the Cougars have learned, fall behind and be forced to catch up - like with a 17-point deficit against Texas Tech in the only loss of the season - and the chances of a comeback are slim.

"That's something we have been working on," quarterback Kyle Postma said of the second-half offense. "We need to come out in the second half and not let our foot off the gas. We need to learn to finish."

UH is averaging 19.5 points in the first half this season, which ranks 22nd out of 130 FBS schools. But over the final two quarters, the Cougars are averaging 5.8 points - 23 total points that also includes a safety - that ranks 120th. At one point, the Cougars went more than 85 minutes without producing an offensive score.

In four games, UH has scored three touchdowns in the second half. More than 60 percent of the Cougars' 23 second-half possessions have ended in punts.

Applewhite defended the second-half play-calling, saying the Cougars have remained aggressive. Some of the blame can be placed on a struggling run game that hasn't allowed the team to extend possessions. There have also been the usual culprits: drive-killing turnovers, penalties and dropped passes.

"We still stayed aggressive," Applewhite said after the Temple game. "By no means did we go into a shell and say let's just call this thing safe."

Even before the second half against Temple, Applewhite lamented a blown chance to capitalize on a Temple turnover just before halftime. Instead, the Cougars were forced to punt after having the ball for just 67 seconds.

After the break, UH put together a drive that was capped by a 9-yard touchdown catch by Linell Bonner for a 20-0 lead. From there, however, the Cougars had four punts and managed just 61 yards total offense.

"I was pleased to come out of the half and score. We just did not execute (the rest of the second half). There is no rhyme or reason," Applewhite said. "We had a chance to really put a dagger in a team that is struggling to score points. We had an opportunity to take that game where they don't want to go, and we didn't capitalize on it. That was very frustrating from that standpoint."

Plagued by ineffecieny

Applewhite pointed to the Cougars' red-zone struggles as part of the reason for the difficulty scoring, particularly touchdowns. The Cougars have converted only 60 percent of their trips inside the opponents' 20-yard line (12-of-20) into touchdowns.

With Postma taking over the quarterback job from Kyle Allen, Applewhite said there is also an adjustment period for offensive coordinator Brian Johnson to get familiar with a new quarterback in game situations.

"When you are starting a new guy, you have to get a chance to get a feel for him as a play-caller," Applewhite said. "I think coach Johnson will continue to learn and grow with Kyle Postma and see what more he can do and what less we need to do in certain areas."

The learning curve will need to be quick with SMU's high-scoring offense on tap. The Mustangs, behind second-year quarterback Ben Hicks and wide receiver Courtland Sutton, a projected top-10 NFL draft pick, are averaging 51.3 points in four wins.

"Probably, to this point, the most explosive offense we have played (this season)," Applewhite said.

Joseph Duarte has been a sports reporter for the Houston Chronicle since August 1996. He currently covers college athletics, focusing on the University of Houston. Previously, he wrote about the Houston Astros from 1998-2002, Houston Texans from 2002-05 and the Texas Longhorns from 2005-09. He came to the Houston Chronicle as part of an internship through the Sports Journalism Institute in 1995.